A Complete Travel Guide To Khon Kaen - Adventures In Isan
Khon Kaen sits in the heart of Thailand’s northeastern region of Isan. Home to some fantastic food and restaurants, tranquil temples, a beautiful lake and even a mini zoo, Khon Kaen very quickly became one of our favourite spots we visited during the whole of our Isan adventure. This lesser known city really captured our hearts and is just another example of why travel rewards those who get off the well-trodden path!
The city is a delightful mix of contrasts. On one side of the street, you’ll pass by rows of tailors lining the busy pavement, sitting crouched over old sewing machines, whilst directly opposite, you’ll find high-end coffee shops, funky bars and the neon lights of 7-Eleven convenient stores.
We spent almost a week in the city but easily could have spent longer. At first glance, it looks as though there is very little to see and do, but as you start to unpick at the layers of the city, more and more is revealed! Despite being one of the ‘big four’ cities of Isan, Khon Kaen was so easy to walk around and had such a laid-back vibe that we absolutely fell in love it. Here’s our full Khon Kaen guide on everything we did, everything we saw and everything we ate and drank in this Isan city!
Khon Kaen is famous for dinosaurs… can you tell!
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In this Khon Kaen Travel Guide:
What To See And Do In Khon Kaen
Sometimes travelling without a plan turns out to be the best decision you can make. We arrived in Khon Kaen with very little idea about how we were going to fill our days, but we quickly found that there was plenty to keep us occupied. Here’s just some of what we got up to.
Learn about local history at the Khon Kaen National Museum
After a fun afternoon in the sun feeding some capybaras in a bathtub (more on this later) we headed to Khon Kaen’s National Museum to have a more mature rest of the day learning about the local history.
On the ground floor of the museum there are lots of exhibits showcasing some of the Bronze and Stone Age artefacts that have been found within the province. Including pots, coins, statues and even a skeleton of a man with his knees bound together. We really liked seeing the casts they used to make axe heads and found it fascinating to see the development of jewellery from plain stone bracelets to pretty glass bead necklaces.
Upstairs the museum highlights the different Khmer ruins that can be found around Isan, as well as explaining what the different types of temples and chedi’s that can be found both in Khon Kaen province and across Thailand.
Outside in the small museum courtyard, there is a room showing what life was like living in a traditional wooden home. The replica house has a kitchen and bedrooms and shows how locals would have hunted, fished and cooked in the past.
Don’t miss the intricately carved border stones outside in the grounds of the museum. As we were leaving, the very friendly receptionist who issued our tickets came running out and enthusiastically directed us to them!
Entry fee: A ticket costs 200 baht for foreigners, 20 baht for Thai nationals.
Opening times: The museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 9 AM to 4 PM. The museum is closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and public holidays.
Throughout the museum, the information is displayed on signs written in both Thai and English languages.
Climb up the beautiful Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon temple (Wat Nong Wang)
The humongous, pyramid shaped, multi-tiered temple of Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon (also known as Wat Nong Wang) sits overlooking the southwestern edge of Kaen Nakhon Lake and is one of the iconic sights of Khon Kaen.
The temple is absolutely massive, it towered over us like some gold and white layered wedding cake! At the bottom of the pyramid, we entered a cavernous prayer hall that was completely packed out with monks, families and other devotees, all chanting, praying or leaving offerings. As we wandered around the hall, huge loudspeakers rang out with Buddhist chants and the smokey sweet smell of incense filled the air. In the middle of the hall there is a big golden Buddha statue speckled in gold leaf and across the walls colourful paintings showing different stories of the Buddha. It’s a remarkable and truly atmospheric place.
The photos here really don’t do justice to the scale of Wat Nong Wang temple!
At first, we thought it was just the prayer hall that you could visit, but we soon spied a nondescript door that led us to a set of stairs. Being adventurers (or at least thinking we are), we headed up. We climbed floor after floor, passing levels lined with statues of the Buddha all in different aspects, some floors covered in colourful murals and some containing small intricate shrines. Eventually, after a very sweaty climb, we reached level 9, the top of the pyramid!
At the top of the temple there is an outside terrace that circles around the whole upper floor. The view from the top (and the breeze) were incredible. From this panoramic top-down view, you could see out over the red roofs of the temple, across the vast Kaen Nakhon Lake and all the way over the skyline of Khon Kaen. We spent a good half hour snapping photos and soaking up the chilled atmosphere of the temple. Before you leave make sure you look up and into the rafters as you can spot lots of pigeons peacefully nesting amongst the carved wooden golden struts.
Entry fee: The temple is free to enter. Just remember to dress appropriately (shoulders and knees must be covered) and be respectful.
Explore the tranquil Wat That Phra Aram Luang temple
We stumbled upon Wat That Phra Aram Luang Temple on our first night whilst we were munching our way around Bueng Kaen Nakhon Night Market. As we sat devouring our street snacks, the lights covering the enormous orange stupa were switched on and the whole stupa lit up in front of us.
The orange stupa is just one part of Wat That Phra Aram Luang. Behind the stupa hides what could possibly be the biggest prayer hall we’ve seen in Thailand so far. Inside the prayer hall the walls are covered with paintings and images of dinosaurs all painted in red, gold and white - an ode to the dinosaur remains that have been found in Khon Kaen province.
Wat That Phra Aram Luang is very peaceful and much more serene than Wat Nong Wang. It felt more like a local place of worship than a pilgrimage site.
As we mentioned above, one of the best views of the temple is from the Bueng Kaen Nakhon Night Market where come early evening as the sun goes down, you can see the whole stupa lit up - see more details below!
Entry fee: Similar to Wat Nong Wang above, this temple is completely free to enter. As always, please dress appropriately if you’re planning a visit.
Check out the vibrant Khon Kaen Art Wall and hunt for hidden paintings
We’ve seen some incredible street art in Thailand, from Mukdahan in the northeast to Songkhla in the south, but the Khon Kaen Art Wall is one of our favourites!
Khon Kaen’s offering is more than just one big wall of street art. The art here is centered around a small courtyard full of old buildings and warehouses. The street art is painted on everything and anything, from the paving stones on the floor to flower pots. Even the windows and doors feature in the art work.
Some of our favourite murals showed a man appearing to walk straight out of the wall whilst pushing a trolley laden with goods. Another mural, painted on the entrance to Vector Coffee (more on this later), showed a teacher and a student sitting either side of the door pointing at each other. We loved how each of the flower pots inside the courtyard featured images of painted cats. The inner courtyard is somewhere where you have to spend a lot of time looking both up and down to reveal all the colourful mysteries hidden on the walls.
Outside on the outer walls there is a street food mural, a painted window that looks into a barbers and a scene showing children playing in a playground - this was the most fun mural as it even featured hanging loops to play on!
If you’re hungry the courtyard was full of restaurants, coffeeshops, bars and bakeries.
Entry fee: The Khon Kaen Art Wall is free to explore.
Take a scenic walk around Kaen Nakhon Lake and spot some dinosaurs
This huge body of water dominates the southwest of the city. The Kaen Nakhon Lake (or reservoir) as it is labelled on Google Maps is a great place to stretch your legs. We would recommend walking anti-clockwise, stopping in at Wat That Phra Aram Luang temple and Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon temple before circumnavigating the whole lake.
The path around the lake literally follows the water's edge. As you wander around you’ll pass by lots of outdoor gyms, a small children’s library and children’s play areas. The path is very cool and shady and there are lots of grassy lawns and benches dotted around the park for you to relax on.
One of the best views of Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon temple is from the opposite side Khon Kaen Lake!
On the eastern edge of the lake you’ll pass a massive ‘Khon Kaen’ sign marked by a truly gigantic green diplodocus statue and some other more questionable looking dinosaur / tortoise statues. Further on from the herd of colourful dinosaurs, you’ll reach the Vietnamese One Pillar Pagoda (very similar looking to the pagoda found in the centre of Hanoi) and just a short walk from this, you’ll find the beautiful buildings and ornate gardens of the Thai Chinese Cultural Centre. Just over the road is the (probably very pretty) Bung Tao Gong Ma Chinese Shrine but when we visited, it was covered in scaffolding!
Just behind the Thai Chinese Cultural Centre is a huge concrete amphitheatre and underneath this you can find the Khon Kaen City Museum. We didn’t spot the entrance to this museum until our last morning wandering around the lake so we will definitely have to check it out next time we’re in the city.
Kaen Nakhon Lake is a great place to escape the busy streets. We walked the lake a few times at different times of day and absolutely loved how peaceful it was. We can highly recommend wandering the lake at sunset as the surface of the lake creates the perfect mirror to reflect the temples, lights and skyline of Khon Kaen.
The t-rex is certainly… striking!
Eat street food at the Bueng Kaen Nakhon Night Market
Clinging to the waters of the northern edge of Kaen Nakhon Lake the stalls of Bueng Kaen Nakhon Night Market spring up to feed hungry diners each evening.
As you approach, the first half of the market is full of stalls selling clothes, vintage sportswear, make-up and phone accessories, however, the second half of the market housed our favourite section - the food stalls!
We headed here every evening and picked up some delicious street eats including fried chicken, moo ping, our favourite Thai style sushi, kanom tuay (coconut puddings) and loads more. The thing about night markets in Thailand is that there is always something tasty to tempt you.
There are some benches set up on the lakefront but most of the locals were just bringing their own picnic mats and sitting down in the twilight.
The backdrop of Kaen Nakhon Lake (especially at sunset) makes for a stunning setting for the night market especially with the temples and glowing lights of the city reflecting in the water. We loved picking up a selection of snacks, making camp and watching as the sun set over the lake.
Dine with locals and devour Isan treats at the Khon Kaen Night Market
One night market is never enough! Luckily Khon Kaen has another one to peruse. The imaginatively named Khon Kaen Night Market springs up in the centre of town (located just behind the Fairy Plaza)and is an absolute must.
At the market you’ll find all the usual Thai night market street food suspects from stir-fried rice and noodles to soups, salads, grilled meats and more. A word of warning; some of the stalls were selling enormous portions so make sure you go hungry!
We didn’t ever eat our main meal here but would go to pick up either starters in the form of satay or sushi or some after dinner sweet treats such as khanom bueang (Thai style sweet tacos) or mango sticky rice!
There’s plenty of seating available so just head up to your chosen stall, place your order and take a seat. If you’re not hungry, the market also has all the usual array of stalls selling clothes, toys, stickers and more.
Opening times: The market is open everyday from 5 PM until 2 AM.
The Bueng Kaen Nakhon Night Market has plenty of food on offer!
Shop for souvenirs at the Khon Kaen Walking Street Market
Walking Street Markets are a key highlight of any trip to Thailand and Khon Kaen has a fantastic one.
Khon Kaen’s Walking Street Market stretched all along one snaking road and was full of stalls selling everything from children’s toys to perfume, vintage clothing to mobile phone accessories. The market is a great spot if you want to try some street food with all the usual Thai market favourites being sold - think meat on sticks, Thai style sushi, fried chicken alongside iced tea vendors, donut sellers and ‘make your own’ very sweet and very sickly smoothie stalls (Red Bull blended with cupcake blended with jelly sweets anyone?).
When we visited, the Walking Street Market was even bigger than usual as it was the local OTOP exhibition (the One Tambon One Product program introduced by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to promote local entrepreneurship) and, as a result, it felt as though everyone from Khon Kaen province had descended on the market. It was extremely busy and the fair stretched out in all directions. There were local food and craft stalls, a big music stage and lots of impromptu dance displays and bands playing music. It was really good fun but extremely busy!
Opening Times: The Walking Street Market is open every Saturday from 5 PM.
Visit the Khon Kaen Exotic Pets Zoo
Sometimes we do physical activities like hiking or cycling, sometimes we do cultural things like visiting a museum or a temple and sometimes, just sometimes, we find ourselves bottle-feeding some very excitable goats!
Khon Kaen’s Exotic Pets is half pet showroom / half mini petting zoo. Once you’ve bought your tickets and headed through the gates you find yourself in what can only be described as critter chaos!
Goats, miniature ponies and capybaras live alongside rabbits, a flock of angry geese and a pair of very horny, enormous tortoises. It was creature carnage! We had made the mistake of buying some of the 20 baht goat milk and as soon as we had made our way through the gates we were surrounded by incredibly enthusiastic and very hungry bleating. What followed was a hilarious afternoon which involved spinning in circles bottle-feeding many goats, hand-feeding grass to a capybara as it sat sunbathing in a bathtub and giggling as a mob of meerkats watched the sky as an aeroplane took off from the nearby airport!
At the back of the petting zoo is a huge room that’s full of the fluffiest cats we’ve ever seen. They were so chilled out we spent a good while just sitting on the floor stroking these pampered princesses.
We absolutely loved our time at the exotic pet zoo. It was so much fun and we didn’t stop laughing during the whole of our visit. The zoo is a little way out of town so you will need to hail a Grab or Bolt to take you there, but we had no problems getting to or from the zoo.
On the road to the zoo there are a couple of restaurants and a bakery and the nearest 7-Eleven is only a short walk away from the entrance.
Entry fee: Each ticket to the petting zoo costs 150 baht. If you want to buy goat milk it’ll cost you 20 baht and to buy a bag of fish food it’ll cost you 10 baht. The zoo is obviously more aimed at children but what can we say, we’re big kids too!
Opening times: The zoo is open everyday from 10 AM until 6 PM.
We’re not going to go into the ethics of the zoo. Most of the animals appeared free range and the bird enclosure seemed, to our uneducated eyes, to be large but we are not experts at this. If you’re not into zoos or don’t agree with them then perhaps give this one a miss!
Where To Eat And Drink In Khon Kaen
Khon Kaen is a massive city with everything from air-conditioned restaurants to street carts selling all your Thai street food classic. We had no trouble wandering the streets and stumbling upon some delicious eats. Here are some of our favourite dining spots we found in the city.
Dining with the locals - Our favourite Thai food spots
As with all our travels around Thailand, during any trip we predominantly stick to the local dishes. When we weren’t eating in the markets listed above, here’s some of our favourite spots we ate at:
Chinese Style Roast Meat Restaurant
Sitting just over the road from our accommodation (the Neo Hotel - more info about where we stayed below) this roast meat restaurant was super busy from lunchtime until closing. Serving every kind of delicious Chinese-style roasted meat you could want, we ordered up a plate of khao moo daeng (red roast pork on rice covered in a tangy, sweet sauce) and a bowl of egg noodles topped with roasted duck and crispy belly pork. Both dishes were amazing and came served with an ultra fragrant broth on the side.
Gai Yan and Som Tam Restaurant (ร้านอาหารโต้งปลาเผา)
If you’re planning a trip through Isan and only get to try one single Isan dish, then make sure it is a plate of gai yan (grilled chicken), som tam (papaya salad) and khao niao (sticky rice)!
We were seduced by this gai yan and som tam restaurant as we walked past it on our way to the night market. Lining the pavement outside the restaurant are huge BBQ fire pits that were laden with salt-crusted fish and marinated whole chickens all being roasted over glowing charcoal.
Lunch or dinner, you really cannot go wrong with an Isan feast of grilled chicken and som tam salad!
This restaurant was so good we actually ended up munching here twice during our stay. The gai yan was juicy and moist and full of flavour - a hearty combo of smokey BBQ char alongside the sweet, herby marinade. The som tam salad was extremely spicy (just how we like it) and very fresh. The first time we ordered it we had the plain version and the second time we were more adventurous and asked for it to come with pickled crabs that gave the whole dish a umami rich flavour.
Isan dining tip - make sure you leave some sticky rice to soak up all the juice from the som tam salad at the end. Just ball up the rice, soak it in the juices and enjoy! If you’re feeling very adventurous and want the full experience, order like a local and ask for “plaa” with your som tam. Plaa is the raw semi-fermented crabs that really give an Isan kick to the salad. They’re certainly not for everyone but you should definitely try them at least once!
Tom Yum Restaurant (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวหัวลำโพง)
Sitting just next door to Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon Temple (Wat Nong Wang), you will find this very small tom yum restaurant. In need of refuelling after a full morning of temple hopping around the city, we headed in for a delicious bowl of tom yum noodles. The bowls were a good size and the noodles and soup were completely covered in layers of pork balls, sliced pork, chopped peanuts and a perfectly cooked half boiled egg. After eating our way through countless bowls of tom yum during our Thai travels, we can confirm that this was a delicious example of the famous Thai soup!
Stir Fried Dishes (สายฝนอาหารตามสั่ง)
Serving every stir fry you can think of, this small street side restaurant was always popular for a reason. We ducked in for two plates of fried rice, one with sliced Chinese sausage and the other with strips of roast pork and had a delicious and hearty meal. Both plates were smokey rich, wok charred and packed with flavour!
Rice and Curry Buffet (เจ๊เงาะข้าวแกง)
If you’ve been following our travels for a while now, then you’ll know that if there’s rice and curry on offer, then we are powerless to resist it! This very popular streetside buffet became our go-to for breakfast everyday during our stay in Khon Kaen.
Fronted by two very friendly guys, who were very eager to show us their favourite dishes and to teach us how to order in Thai, over the next few breakfasts we devoured a variety of different curries. The pork penang from this stall was a complete standout. Full of spice, yet laden with creamy rich undertones, it was utterly delicious. On other days we demolished a sweet and sour fried fish curry, an aubergine and minced pork curry and a stir-fry of scrambled egg and bitter melon. Every dish we tried was amazing! Rice and curry is always a great find in any Thai city, but this one was fantastic. It was super cheap and super moreish and we still think about the pork penang to this day!
On our last day in Khon Kaen the mother of the two guys serving gave us a free local fruit pudding to try. It was super sweet, yet incredibly refreshing and a perfect counterpoint to the spicy, rich plates we had just munched down on.
Essential travel tip - make sure you get here early. The restaurant is very popular and by mid-morning they had usually sold out of everything!
Pork penang with stir-fried egg and bitter melon!
Tong Paet Market Food Court
Just down the road (around a 5 minute walk) from the Khon Kaen Art Wall sits the bustling Tong Paet Market Food Court. We headed here for a late lunch straight after checking out the street art.
Even though we were visiting for a late lunch, the food court was still absolutely rammed with students and office workers all slurping down on bowls of noodles. We decided to do what we always do in a food court and circle round the stalls like a couple of sweaty vultures scouting out what there was on offer. The food court had so much choice. Every inch of the outer interior wall of the food court was lined with different eateries selling all the Thai street food favourites; from pad krapao to khao man gai, boat noodles to som tam. After a lot of deliberation and a lot of circling around the stalls, we eventually settled on a tom yum stall.
The tom yum we were given was very different to other tom yums we have eaten throughout Thailand but it was still utterly delicious. The broth was a lot lighter and a lot paler in colour (almost looking like a normal pork noodle broth) but still had that tangy citrus kick you get from any good bowl of tom yum. The pork balls were some of the best we’ve been served. Peppery and meaty, they had a great bouncy texture and sucked up the soup broth like little piggy sponges. If you find yourself at this stall make sure you ask for extra crunchy toppings. The crispy wontons served here were a lot thinner, more crispy and were very different to the usual crispy shards you normally get served.
We absolutely adored dining here. The elderly couple who owned the stall were so friendly and so happy we had chosen their stall. They even got out their special china bowls for us to eat from! Thai hospitality always melts our hearts.
The food court is just down the road from Khon Kaen’s Railway Station so would be a great spot to head to if you’re arriving or departing the city by train.
Opening times: The food court is open everyday from 8 AM until 8 PM.
A taste of home - Western comforts in Khon Kaen
Throughout our travels in Thailand we predominantly stick to eating Thai food, but sometimes we crave something familiar, something that reminds us of home!
If you’re missing home or are travelling with a fussy travel companion, we can recommend heading over to the Khon Kaen Central Shopping Mall (location) to get your Western fix. Not only is it a great spot to refresh your backpacking wardrobe and to bask in the cool air conditioning, but if you’re hungry you could head to the food court and dine at McDonalds, the Pizza Company, Swensen’s and Hachiban Ramen and many more other chain stores.
Long Pizza Thailand
When you’ve been on the road in Asia for as long as we have, finding a good pizza restaurant is a godsend - sometimes you just need to curb your cheese cravings!
We treated ourselves to a cute date night at Long Pizza Thailand and it really didn’t disappoint. The pizzas we chose were incredible. Super thin, super crispy and topped with some delicious toppings that tasted as though they had been flown straight in from Italy!
We ordered (and shared) a rocket, parma ham and burrata pizza alongside a simple salami covered pizza. The salami pizza was the perfect counterpoint to the creamy, rich burrata pizza. Spicy and peppery, the tomato sauce on this pizza reminded us a little of Heinz Beans in a really good way (forgive us Italians, we had been on the road for a long time by this point). It was extremely comforting and absolutely laden with melted mozzarella, however, the burrata pizza was the star of the show. As you cut through the outer shell of the burrata, the creamy interior spilled out all over the peppery rocket and salty parma ham. In every bite, you got hits of salt, spice from the pepper and sweetness from the parma ham - the perfect balance of all three flavours. It was amazing!
We paid 1020 baht for 2 pizzas and 2 cokes. A little more than we usually pay for a meal on the street, but for an air-conditioned, delicious date night, we really cannot argue!
Hidden Town Jazz Bar
After our date night pizza, we headed out on the streets to find a bar and stumbled upon Hidden Town. The bar is aptly named ‘hidden’ as you could easily walk past it as apart from a neon sign displayed on the window, there’s very little to say that it is a bar.
Inside the jazz bar, it’s like you’ve been transported to the Roaring 20s. The bar has all the vibes of a speakeasy with cosy lighting, thick curtains covering the windows, yellow lamps, dark wallpaper and even black and white Charlie Chaplin films playing on the TVs.
The bar has a big cocktail menu offering different takes on mojitos, daiquiris and other favourites for about 300 baht per drink. Although we do love a cocktail, we decided to be boring budget backpackers and stuck with beer all night (the bar had a promotion where if you bought 5 beers you got one free). A band area was set up but there was no live music mid-week when we visited.
The Hidden Town Jazz Bar was a flawless end to our date night in Khon Kaen. The bar was very chilled out and felt as though we could be in the middle of New York, Paris or London!
All our top coffee shops and cafes in Khon Kaen
Thailand is well known worldwide for its spicy cuisine, but what you may not know is that Thailand has a thriving coffee culture and Khon Kaen is no exception to this! Without meaning to, we ended up doing a pretty extensive coffee crawl through the city, so here’s just some of our favourite spots we re-caffeinated at.
Doubleshot X Khonkaen
Set a few roads back from the Bueng Kaen Nakhon Night Market, we stopped by at Doubleshot X to pick up a coffee before a full evening of munching at the market. We stuck with our usual order of two iced lattes that were delicious!
The coffees were a little more expensive than other coffee shops on this list, but they were exceptionally crafted. When you place your coffee order, you can choose what beans you want and the type of roast.
The cafe offers all the usual coffee offerings alongside some coffee cocktails / mocktails. There is also a huge refrigerator stuffed full of some amazing looking cakes and sweet treats. There is seating both inside and outside the cafe.
Neighbour Cafe
Unlike its more modern and industrial looking neighbours on the street, Neighbour Cafe is set in a beautiful, traditional Thai style, cream and pale green wooden panelled building. Inside, the sleek exterior vibes continue, with a contemporary modern interior consisting of white bricked walls, dark wooden furniture and lots of green plants.
Neighbour Cafe serves delicious coffee alongside Thai style tea, a big selection of cakes and sweet treats, smoothies and even some small meals. On the weekend the cafe is very popular with locals and families. It also borders a frozen yogurt shop if you’re peckish after you’re caffeine treat!
Wansabaai Coffee
Sitting almost opposite Neighbour Cafe, you could easily miss the two stools that mark the counter to this small, hole-in-the-wall coffeeshop. The coffee from Wansabaai Coffee was amazing. Properly craft-brewed and fresh-pressed coffee that was expertly poured over ice by a very friendly barista. Delicious and cheap, Wansabaai Coffee was a stand out for us!
Prodigy Coffee
Prodigy Coffee is a very popular coffeeshop and on-site bakery. We popped in for a late afternoon pick-me-up and ordered two rocket-fuel laden iced americanos. As we sat waiting for our coffees to be made, the smell of baking bread wafted through the cafe from the adjacent bakery and it wasn’t too long until a sesame bagel filled with cream cheese was added to our order!
Bagels seem to be gaining a bit of popularity throughout South East Asia and the bagels cooked up here were definitely some of the best we have eaten throughout our travels.
Prodigy Coffee serves up a full range of craft coffee, teas, matcha and Italian sodas alongside a huge array of different style bagels (sesame, plain, poppy seed, matcha, chocolate and more) that can be topped with a variety of delicious sweet or savoury toppings.
SicXcup Coffee
Another achingly cool, modern coffee shop, decked out with black metal furniture, green plants and polished concrete, SicXcup Coffee became our favourite coffee shop in Khon Kaen.
The es orange (americano and orange - don’t knock it until you’ve tried it) was the best we’ve had so far in the whole of Thailand. An espresso soda mixed with freshly squeezed orange and topped with mint. It was refreshing, super tasty and very addictive!
Vector Coffee Roaster l The Wall
The Vector Coffee Roaster is another sleek coffeeshop that strikes the perfect balance between industrial chic, modern aesthetics and vintage charm. Sitting in the heart of Khon Kaen’s Street Art courtyard, the coffeeshop is a perfect excuse to treat yourself to (a slightly more expensive but very tasty) craft coffee.
We ordered our usual iced lattes and took a seat at the back of the coffeeshop in what felt a bit like we were sitting in a small museum. All around old printmakers lined the walls and black and white photos hung from the wooden beams. Vector Coffee is a little more expensive than other coffeeshops on this list, but it was really good coffee and a great spot to cool off after spotting street art.
Khon Kaen Essential Travel Information
We’ve covered all our favourite things to see, do and eat in Khon Kaen so now here’s all the essential information you’ll need if you’re planning your own trip to Khon Kaen.
Where is Khon Kaen and how to get there?
Khon Kaen is located in Thailand’s vast northeastern region of Isan. You can find the city on a map here. Khon Kaen (like many of Thailand’s main cities) is the capital of the province which boasts the same name as the city (Khon Kaen province) .
Khon Kaen is considered to be one of the four ‘big four cities’ of Isan, along with Udon Thani to the north, Ubon Ratchathani in the southeast and Nakhon Ratchasima (also known as Korat) in the southwest.
Khon Kaen is extremely well connected to the rest of Thailand, with bus, train and even flight connections. Read on to find out more!
Getting to Khon Kaen by bus
Khon Kaen’s main bus station - Khon Kaen Bus Terminal no. 3 is located a short drive outside of the city centre. You can find the bus station here on a map.
You can easily catch a bus to Khon Kaen from anywhere within Isan or from Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Once you arrive at the bus station you can hail a taxi (Grab or Bolt) to take you into the city (it should cost around 100 baht and take around 10 minutes) or hop on to one of the public songthaews that travel to and from the bus station.
To book your bus tickets in advance, we would always use 12Go. Click the different routes below for ticket prices.
We were already in the middle of a big Isan adventure when we visited Khon Kaen and so caught a bus from Mukdahan to get to the city and then when it was time to leave, we caught a bus north and headed to Udon Thani.
If you’re planning a trip around Isan we can highly recommend both Mukdahan and Udon Thani. Both cities are very unique with great food and incredible temples. Make sure you check out our full Mukdahan guide and our Udon Thani travel guide for more ideas on where to go in Isan!
Travelling by bus in Thailand is one of our favourite ways to travel. We’ve used them throughout the whole of our Thai adventures, travelling across the whole of the country from north to south, east to west. Bus travel in Thailand is super cheap (perfect for budget backpackers) and is so easy to use. If you haven’t, we can highly recommend the Thai buses!
Getting to Khon Kaen by train
Khon Kaen’s main train station is located in the heart of the city and has trains connecting Khon Kaen to Bangkok’s Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal Station every day with journeys taking around 6 to 8 hours.
Click the following link to book your Bangkok to Khon Kaen train tickets
If you’re already travelling through Isan, Khon Kaen is connected by railway to Nong Khai and Udon Thani in the north and Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) to the southwest of the city. For those coming from Laos, the easiest border crossing is at Nong Khai. From there just catch a bus or a train south to Khon Kaen (although we would highly recommend you stop and spend a couple of days exploring Nong Khai and Udon Thani first before heading south).
For those leaving Khon Kaen by train, it’s only a short walk to the Tong Paet Market Food Court we mentioned in the food and drink section of this article above. If you’re after a quick meal before you board your train we can highly recommend stopping here.
There’s also a huge fresh market opposite the train station (the Khon Kaen Talat Rod Fai Railway Market) that’s worth a quick wander through if you’re like us and love a bit of market exploration. The market seemed to specialise in selling wholesale fruit of every kind, with stalls stuffed to the brim with mounds of watermelons, durian and more!
Getting to Khon Kaen by air
Khon Kaen’s International Airport (location) is located a short 10 minute drive away from the centre of the city. For those short on time, you can easily fly into (or out of) Khon Kaen from either Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport or Don Mueang Airport or if you’re already in northern Thailand, from Chiang Mai’s International Airport.
Book your Bangkok to Khon Kaen flights here
Book your Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen flights here
Flight times from either Bangkok or Chiang Mai are very short, with each flight taking just over an hour to reach the city. Internal flights in Thailand are surprisingly cheap and are a very efficient way to get around the country if you’re travelling light. For our pick of the ultimate carry-on friendly travel bag, make sure you check out our review of the CabinZero 28L here.
To find the best deals on how to get to Khon Kaen (across all transport options - bus, train and air), just click the widget below:
How to get around Khon Kaen - Transport options within the city
Once you are in the centre of the city, we found Khon Kaen to be easily walkable. For attractions further away, such as the National Museum and the Exotic Pets Zoo, we simply hailed a taxi. In Khon Kaen, both Grab and Bolt work. We only used Grab, but whenever we booked a ride, we didn’t have to wait for more than a couple of minutes until our taxi arrived.
To use ride hailing apps you will need an internet connection. We always bought a physical SIM card once we were in Thailand, however, if you would prefer to have the internet as soon as you arrive, we can highly recommend buying a Thai eSIM from Holafly.
Khon Kaen is very easy to walk around with plenty of pavements. If you’re looking for a nice, scenic walk, through parkland, we can highly recommend circumnavigating the Kaen Nakhon Lake (see above in the ‘what to do’ section of this article) either early in the morning or just before sunset.
Where to stay? Accommodation in Khon Kaen
We stayed at the excellent Neo Hotel (location), which is set just a short walk away from the shoreline of Kaen Nakhon Lake. We booked a private double room which came with an en-suite bathroom, a very big, comfy bed and some much needed air-conditioning. The highlight of the room was the small balcony that looked out over the rooftops and the gleaming stupas of the temple below. We loved standing with a beer on the balcony watching the cities lights sparkle to life.
We have stayed in many hotels and guesthouses across Isan and the Neo Hotel was one of the best we have stayed in. The room was enormous and looked as though it had been very recently renovated. Downstairs next to the reception area there is a small shop selling snacks, drinks, beer and pot noodles and there is a small laundry on-site with washing machines and tumble dryers available to use for a small fee. Outside there is plenty of seating to munch down on any takeaway street food night market purchases and there is a big car park for hotel guests who have rented a car / motorbike. If we have inspired you to plan a trip to Khon Kaen and you want to stay at the hotel yourself, just click the following link to book your own room at Neo Hotel.
To check out all the other accommodation available in Khon Kaen including hostels, guesthouses and upmarket hotels, just enter your dates of travel in our handy map below:
Where to go next? All our Isan travel guides
Khon Kaen is a perfect starting, ending or middling point on a big Isan adventure. Using either the bus network, trains or even by renting a car, you can easily explore this lesser known region of Thailand.
We have visited Isan twice now. The first time, we explored using the buses, starting in Nong Khai in the north, travelling along the Mekong to Bueng Kan, Nakhon Pathom and Mukdahan, before heading inland to Sakhon Nakhon, Udon Thani and Khon Kaen.
On our second trip we used the train and travelled from Ubon Ratchathani in the east, stopping at Si Sa Ket, Surin, Buriram before finishing in Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima) - more travel guides on all these places coming very soon!
To read all about what we got up to and to help plan your own Isan trip, make sure you check out all our Isan travel guides below:
Our Khon Kaen online map
If you’re planning a trip to Khon Kaen, make sure you check out our online map where we have saved everywhere we visited and discussed in this article for easy reference.
Final Thoughts
Khon Kaen was one of those Thai cities where we instantly fell in love with its charms, laidback vibes and delicious food scene. We arrived not knowing what there was to see and do, but left knowing that we needed to plan a much longer return.
During this stay, we really only just scratched the surface of Khon Kaen. As we delved deeper into the city, more and more of its delicious food and drink scene revealed itself to us. Next time we visit, we could easily plan to stay much longer, just eating, drinking and exploring this amazing city and the wider Khon Kaen province.
Khon Kaen was one of those highlights you get when travelling. Somewhere you visit without knowing anything about it but end up leaving with a broken heart when it’s time to say goodbye. It’s a city that was full of surprises and somewhere we could easily imagine living.
Most backpackers and travellers heading to Thailand still stick to the well worn tourist routes, but Khon Kaen revealed a completely different side to Thailand. If you have the time, do yourself a favour and head to Khon Kaen to explore somewhere truly unique.
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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